Tag: Tom Brady

The 300s Podcast: Golf is Hard and is the World Cup Un-American?

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Get your Monday started the right way with a fresh episode of The 300s Podcast! Joey B joins the pod as we regale some tales from our latest golf outing, we debate if the World Cup is Un-American, and is Oprah secretly trying to sink the Patriots? Click here to listen or download on iTunes or Google Play. Subscribe and review today!

Also on this episode Joey B and I discuss:

-Our latest disaster on the links:

“Golf is the only sport where for whatever reason you just kind of expect to play well even though you only play once a month. Its also one of the few sports where having a six pack before noon actually improves your performance.”

-Tom Brady saying he’s going to retire “sooner rather than later” in his interview with Oprah.

-Joe and I argue about the true value of Kyrie Irving and whether he is now expendable for the Celtics.

-The MMA Minute

-Joe’s latest Snake It Til You Make It award winner

 

Former Jets QB Christian Hackenberg is Visiting the Patriots Today

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How about that Belichick, man? When the rest of the league is playing checkers he’s playing chess. He trades away his elite young backup QB and then just sits in the weeds waiting for the Jets to outsmart themselves and dump Hackenberg onto the Raiders who then cut him less than 2 weeks later, and thats when Belichick POUNCES.

In all seriousness I hated this pick by the Jets from Day 1. Well technically Day 2 since he was a second round pick. But the guy flashed as a freshman at Penn State with 20 TDs and 10 INTs under old friend Bill O’Brien. Then he regressed the next two years throwing 12/15 and 16/6 before going pro and getting drafted by the New York Football Jets, despite never posting a completion percentage above 59% in college.

In two years with the Jets he threw a grand total of zero passes despite being surrounded by bums like Bryce Petty, Geno Smith, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Josh McCown. Not exactly murderers row ahead of him.

But before we all freak out lets just remember that the Patriots, as does every other team in the NFL, routinely workout guys that they never sign. Guys they never even hope to have to sign. These are often just workouts to keep the pipeline full in case disaster strikes and guys on your roster get injured.

Or Belichick is dabbling in the dark arts again and has grand plans for young Hackenberg. Jimmy Garoppo-WHO am I right??

The Patriots Have Become TNT: We Know Drama

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The latest episode of The 300s Podcast is LIVE! Click here to listen or download on iTunes or Google Play.

We talk about Julian Edelman’s possible suspension and how apparently the NFL doesn’t even know what he tested positive for, how does this all affect Tom Brady and TB12, some good old fashioned Boston media on media crime and more! Listen, subscribe, and review us on iTunes, Google Play or wherever you get your podcasts!

Now the NFL Doesn’t Know What Edelman Tested Positive For; NFL Scientists Trying to Figure it Out

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SI – “I know what Julian Edelman posted on Instagram in the wake of the suspension news (“I don’t know what happened”) came off as a little weird, but there is an explanation for it. I was told Edelman’s result was triggered by a substance that wasn’t immediately recognizable, and there are scientists analyzing it. And as to the timing, the test did happen during the offseason (a couple months ago), which means it’s not for any kind of stimulant. You might remember the rash of players saying they got popped for Adderall—the rules have changed now so that offseason use of stimulants falls under the substances of abuse policy, rather than the PED policy.”

Late last week Julian Edelman got popped for PEDs, but it wasn’t immediately known what he had actually tested positive for. However, Bert Breer of MMQB reported today that Edelman’s “I don’t know what happened” defense may not be totally unfounded because apparently the NFL doesn’t know what happened either.

“I was told Edelman’s result was triggered by a substance that wasn’t immediately recognizable, and there are scientists analyzing it.”

Ask anyone who has read “Game of Shadows” or “Juiced” or followed really any of the Olympic track scandals over the past 20 years; the steroid scientists are always ahead of the league scientists. Its just a constant game of catch up as the leagues are trying to reverse engineer everything and figure out what to test for. With that being said, when they do pop someone its usually a hybrid substance or a masking agent of another substance that triggers the test. Breer makes it seem like Edelman tested positive for something the NFL has never seen. But if thats the case, then is the substance he took actually banned? Did Edelman even know if it was or wasn’t?

I mean technically, if its not a banned substance then you can’t suspend a guy for it. You would have to at least inform the NFLPA that it will soon be banned and that it will be tested for in the future. Without knowing all the details its hard to say who’s more in the wrong here (neither Edelman nor the NFL are in the right) because if you’re the NFL how can you suspend a guy for something you didn’t know even existed let alone banned? If you’re Edelman WTF are you doing taking something that isn’t 100% approved by the NFL. A lot of players won’t even step foot in a GNC anymore because who the hell knows whats in half of the supplements they sell? If you don’t know, then don’t risk it.

So the real question is what did Edelman test positive for? Adamantium? Vibranium? The symbiote that forms Venom?

Or is it a TB12 cocktail? I’m certainly not going to point the finger because it would be criminally negligent for Alex Guerrero and Tom Brady to be signing off on anything even approaching questionable as part of the TB12 Method. Doing so would essentially submarine a potential billion dollar business in a second.

But thats not to say the media won’t make the connection, allude to the connection, or nearly come to blows arguing over the mere mention of a possible connection.

Either way the Patriots have become a constant source of drama and gossip this offseason, which is the antithesis of what this team has been for the past 18 years. Thats tough to ignore because where there’s smoke there’s usually fire. But until that shoe drops, I fully expect the team to win 12+ games and be chasing another Super Bowl this year. So for all the critics calling for the end of the dynasty, saying every great team run ends the same; It only ends once. Everything before that is just progress.

The 300s Podcast: Red Sox on Pace for 100+ Wins? Are You Team Brady or Team Belichick?

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The latest episode of The 300s Podcast is LIVE! Click here to listen or download on iTunes or Google Play.

On this episode Red and Big Z discuss:

-For a team on pace to win 100+ games I don’t feel overly confident about this Red Sox team in the playoffs.

-The Sox cut their No. 3 hitter and it took less than a week for it to blow up in their face with both Dustin Pedroia and Mookie Betts now on the DL.

-Is JD Martinez the Best Red Sox Free Agent Signing Since Manny Ramirez?

-How concerned are Red and Big Z about all this Patriots drama?

-Are you Team Brady or Team Belichick?

Tom Brady’s Agent Don Yee Says He Expects Brady to Play in 2018

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ESPN – Despite a certain level of uncertainty within the New England Patriots’ organization, Tom Brady’s agent, Don Yee, said he expects his client Tom Brady to return for the 2018 season. “Tom’s intentions have not changed,” Yee said Monday. “He’s consistently said he’ll play beyond this contract and into his mid 40s, or until he feels he isn’t playing at a championship level. I understand the constant speculation, but this is one point he’s been firm about.”

Hallelujah. For all the snarky folks on Twitter saying Tom Brady is under contract and shouldn’t have to announce he’s going to play, it should be expected. Well, sure I mean technically you’re right, but here in reality we’re dealing with a 41 year old player who has been ominously tight lipped about his employment status for 2018. So while it shouldn’t be required, its definitely helpful for my sanity because if we’ve learned anything this offseason its to expect nothing without confirmation.

I don’t need any kind of tacit, unspoken agreement right now, I need someone to come out and tell me without a shadow of a doubt that Tom Brady will be under center this coming season. And while this isn’t quite that, its without a doubt the closest thing we’ve heard to date. Especially with this little thing called the NFL Draft coming up in 3 days. So yea it helps to know we’ll have a QB this year and the Patriots don’t HAVE to draft a new signal caller on Day 1. They still might, but at least we have Plan A ready to go. The last thing you want is to go from one play away from winning the Super Bowl immediately into the succession plan 7 months later with a rookie QB.

There is only one thing we say to Tom Brady retirement rumors.

Apparently Tom Brady Hasn’t Committed to Playing in 2018. This is My Nightmare

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So after my Patriots blog yesterday telling everyone to RE-LAX, Adam Schefter just told me to go get my shine box.

I’m just going to quickly summarize my emotions in the only way I know how because I’m a socially awkward millennial; using a GIF.

I don’t want to do a full 180 on my take from yesterday because I still believe everything I wrote, but that was also with me assuming the psychotically competitive Tom Brady would compartmentalize whatever bullshit disputes there were going on so he could get back to chasing Super Bowls.

But now Adam Schefter comes in from the clouds to ruin my Wednesday morning commute with a report that Brady hasn’t officially committed to playing in 2018. Does that mean he’s out? Of course not. Does this concern the shit out of me? Absolutely. With all the soap operas surrounding this team for the past 4-5 months, the reported power struggles, the alarmingly open ended finale to Tom vs Time; all of that has been building up and stewing. For a team that has always kept distractions to a minimum (they literally killed Tebow Mania in an afternoon) this, their biggest distraction ever, has only gotten worse. Typically when you keep sparking flint near a powder keg it doesn’t just resolve itself and go away. No, that shit usually blows sky high.

So if Brady comes back and plays then obviously no harm no foul, but the fact that IF he’ll play this season is even a question is a problem. What I really do not want to see this turn into is the modern day Brett Favre saga. That was painful to watch and you know it pissed off everyone involved. But more so, you just know Belichick will shut that shit down like he’s late on the cable bill if Brady waffles on playing. I mean the NFL Draft is next week for christ’s sake. Would it surprise anyone if the Pats said oh you’re not sure if you want to play? Welp we just traded up and drafted a new franchise QB.

Its like Bill Belichick is Arthur Curry

And I’m Bruce Wayne. “Thats not the saying.”

I would hate to see my favorite team and my favorite player break up over this high stakes pissing match just because Bill wouldn’t let Tom’s guru personal trainer into the locker room. This is on everyone by the way, I’m not blaming Brady or Belichick. Together they’re still the odds on favorite to win the Super Bowl. We’re all adults here so lets be better. Thats what they’ve done for 18 years.

In These Dark Days for Patriots Fans I Offer a Market Correction

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With all the hysteria surrounding the Patriots after some viral comments from former players like Danny Amendola and the missed OTAs by Gronk and Brady, I think its time for a little market correction. And no this is 100% not an increasingly on edge Patriots fan trying to force some sunshine into your newsfeed…

Obviously with every hot take artist out there all we here is how Amendola called Bill Belichick an asshole, but conveniently leave out the fact that Amendola in the very next sentence goes on to laud the approach because it was what made them successful, which is why he respects Bill.

“It’s not easy, that’s for sure. He’s an asshole sometimes. There were a lot of things I didn’t like about playing for him, but I must say, the things I didn’t like were all in regards to getting the team better, and I respected him,” he said. “I didn’t like practicing in the snow, I didn’t like practicing in the rain, but that was going to make us a better football team and that was going to make me a better football player. It wasn’t easy, and he’d be the first to admit, at the [Super Bowl] ring ceremony, that it wasn’t easy playing for him. The silver lining was that we were at the ring ceremony.“

Now everyone is freaking out because Brady and Gronk missed the start of OTAs leaving out the fact that they’re voluntary workouts. Literally, they’re workouts, not practices:

And while I still don’t love the idea of Brady missing anything, its not entirely unprecedented. He’s missed some time in OTAs in 08, 09, and 2010. Lets not mention the fact that those were some of the leanest years for the franchise in the past 20 years….

MOVING ON

The point of this blog is to offer a market correction. Lets right set exactly what draws players to this horrible place we call New England, even knowing full well how much of a psycho the guy twirling the whistle on his finger is.

Martellus Bennett recently announced his retirement after an injury shortened second stint with the Patriots. When Bennett was healthy he was an absolute stud and a huge factor in the Patriots winning another Super Bowl. Another shining example of a “problem player” coming to NE and somehow just “figuring it out.” That shit is not a coincidence folks. Bennett actually does a great job of illuminating exactly why this approach is so successful, especially for players that have not been in a similar environment previously.

“Bennett played for five teams in his 10 NFL seasons, but he says the Patriots are different, and that his time with the organization helped prepare him to run his own business. “It was the first team I ever went to where I got an employee handbook,” he says. “And I was like, ‘Wait, what? An employee handbook?’ It was the first place where you felt like, they’re running a business, you’re part of a business, this is your role in the business, this is what we expect from you.”

He adds that he observed a policy of transparency around the franchise: “The thing about the Patriots is the honesty around the building, from top to bottom,” he says. “Everyone is honest with everyone. If someone feels a certain way, they’re honest about it, Bill’s honest about it, he tells you exactly what he’s feeling. Some teams like to deal with issues with players in private, but everybody knows what’s going on, but then nobody knows the result of what really happened, so it creates gossip. With the Patriots, there’s not room for that, because everything is upfront.”

So the Patriots expect a ton from you. In return they are honest (if painfully so), transparent, clear in their expectations, and they lay out exactly what is required to do your job. That sounds simplistic, but its really not. Most businesses in this country don’t even run that way. Most businesses have a fundamental crack in one of those pillars, which creates ambiguity, confusion, resentment, and dissension. The Patriots have a rock solid foundation, which is why they are successful.

Then we have free agents who willingly elect to sign with the Patriots. But why? If so many guys hate it then why do they come here? Because they know by playing for the Patriots they will maximize every single ounce of potential they have as a player. For Jordan Matthews that was too good to pass up.

“I think probably the biggest reason [for picking New England] was I knew this was the best opportunity for me to grow as a player,” Matthews told reporters Thursday at Gillette Stadium. “I had some other teams that contacted me that I visited, but I knew just as a player and as a man — I’m recently married, about to have my first child — I don’t think I’m called to be comfortable. And I knew this would be a great place for me to grow, not only as a player but as a man in general.”

Does this guy sound like a Patriot from Day 1 or what? We continue.

“I feel like it’s so easy for us as people to say, ‘OK, what’s the easiest role, and what’s the path of least resistance?’ And then we look up at our lives and we’re 80 years old, and we haven’t done anything great. And so, In my life, in my self, I’m not looking for the easiest route to make myself look great. I want to always do what’s going to make it harder for me to attain any level of success, so that way, anything I can do has meaning.”

God I hope this dude makes the team.

So as I round the corner heading into 1,000 words my point to everyone reading this is just take a deep breath and RE-LAX. Have things been a bit more rocky since the Seth Wickersham article came out? Yes. Have we started hearing more about the TB12 power struggle, Tom vs Time questioning Brady’s future, and Gronk openly waffling on playing in 2018? Yes, yes, yes. Have we had to watch beloved guys like Danny Amendola sign for more money somewhere else? Yup. But this is the way its always been with the Patriots and for good reason.

So while it may be a Patriots homer kind of thing to say, but I’m going to sit back and let the team do its thing because thats whats gotten them 5 Super Bowls. Having Tom Brady lets the team cover A TON of their deficiencies, but reading those quotes from Martellus Bennett and Jordan Matthews just remind me that this organization is built to be more than just a football team. They’re a business operation.

Belichick Tells Cordarrelle Patterson “We Get the Job Done Here.” SO Cocky and I Love It.

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NESN – Bill Belichick apparently believes he can unlock Cordarrelle Patterson’s full potential. Patterson, who was traded from the Oakland Raiders to the New England Patriots last month, has been a special teams star during his five-year NFL career but only a sporadic offensive contributor, able to break long gains with his speed and athleticism but lacking consistent production as a receiver or ball-carrier. Belichick hopes to change that. During an appearance Wednesday on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football,” Patterson recalled the first conversation he had with the Patriots coach after the trade was completed. “He was just telling me, ‘I don’t know what you’ve been through in the past, but we get the job done here,’ ” Patterson said. “‘We’re going to make you the player that you should be.’ ” …“I got a call from my agent, and he was like, ‘You’re getting traded to the Patriots,’ ” Patterson said on “Good Morning Football.” “I was like, ‘Stop lying.’ He was like, ‘No, I’m serious.’ So I was like, ‘OK, let’s go.’ I was excited. They make it to the Super Bowl almost every year … so it was an exciting feeling to me.”

I was having a chat with Joey B yesterday about the Patriots receiving corp for the 2018 season and he expressed some concern about the team’s lack of a deep threat after the trade of Brandin Cooks. Now we do in fact have Cordarrelle Patterson (4.4 second 40 time) and Philip Dorsett (4.3 second 40 time) on the roster so those are your de facto flag route guys.

But, I honestly don’t think the Pats need a pure deep threat and I think thats something they forgot last year as they tried to force balls to Cook down the field. Tom Brady was forced to stand in the pocket longer so those deep routes had time to develop, which resulted in Brady taking more than twice as many sacks (35) than he did the previous year (15). So thats more hits on Brady than you’d like to see your 40-year-old QB take. Plus with their longtime left tackle gone thats an issue you want to mitigate even further so TB12 isn’t susceptible to unnecessary shots. Plus the Patriots have never needed or relied on a prototypical deep threat as part of a Super Bowl winning offense. Its always been about the short routes, working the slot, timing, quick in and out routes, and Gronk when he’s been healthy.

With all of that being said, how can you not love Belichick? He knows all of this, but he’s so cocky in his ability to put players in a position to succeed he straight up tells the guy all your other coaches have been garbage, but we get the job done here. We tell you to Do Your Job and if you worry about that and only that you’ll have the opportunity to maximize your talents. Just look at guys he’s done this with in the past: Julian Edelman, Danny Woodhead, Troy Brown, Deion Lewis, Wes Welker, Chris Hogan etc. The hoodie knows how to take advantage of a player’s very particular set of skills:

Not to mention these guys are often the same guys that have fallen out of favor with their old teams, which is why their stock is so low to begin with. So its a great marriage of opportunity and timing.

Roll the tape!

The Official Daily “Did Gronk Get Traded?” Blog, Presented By: Joey B’s Daily Reminder That Life Is Meaningless

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This is sort of an addendum to Dougie’s blog but here we are. As we all know by now Brandin Cooks, the first true, blue, lights out receiver the Pats have had since Randy Moss was traded yesterday for, by and large, a first round pick. I’ve seen a few folks on the interwebs (namely the good people at Walter Football) mention that Cooks clearly sucked in terms of his locker room presence, hence why despite his talent he’s been discarded by two teams in two years at age 24, and I get that. That’s a good point. I’ve also heard the normal “crafty Belichick” explanations that come about after big subtractions like this one. In this case, Belichick saw how #1 WRs are getting paid and realized he, in hindsight, was never going to be able to resign Cooks so he got something for him. That also makes sense.

However sometimes with Belichick and the Pats one just needs to see the forest through the trees. Sometimes things are pretty simple, as I honestly believe they are here.

Last year, I think the Pats honestly gave themselves a “let’s load the fuck up and win one” year. They got Cooks. They got Gilmore and kept an unhappy Butler anyway. They really did on paper have a top tier starting line up on both sides, save for the offensive line which of course became one of the teams huge Achilles fucking heels. Then Edelman got hurt, then Hightower. Things sort of went sideways. Yes, we went to the Super Bowl, but there were a lot of shaky, sloppy games in there, not to mention the fact that our road to Minnesota was paved by a particularly weak AFC East, the rest of which pick somewhere in the top 12 this April. When it all added up, I think Pats Nation knew that there were probably a few teams that could beat us come the big one, and that’s why, despite none of us ever admitting it, we weren’t as shocked or as crushed as the last two Super Bowl losses when one of them did.

So the Pats’ one year, mercenary laden, quest is over. Now Belichick will go back to trying to win, and mostly succeeding, with the David Patten’s and Otis Smith’s of the world while jettisoning anyone that doesn’t fall in line and care about nothing but championships; the “Patriot Way”.

And ya, I think this time that includes Gronk. #87 is sick of Belichick being such a buzz kill and of his overbearing nature as it pertains to his training and Belichick is sick of Gronk being sick of it. There has been how many stories about this this offseason? Where there is smoke there is fire. So let’s start checking in daily to see when Belichick makes his cruelest move yet and casts off one of the most beloved Pats of all time and the greatest to ever play the Tight End position YES THERE I FUCKING SAID IT.

Life is meaningless.